A couple of ones caught my eye, both of which have to do with leather wrapped steering wheels. One of which is the recovering of a leather steering wheel. I have looked high and low for someone do this, and do it right. Cesar makes it look easy, and wow talk about some nice work, he is so meticulous in his work. Every stitch is perfect and with different design patterns too, which I thought was quite unique. He also shows how to use different type of materials to wrap them with like ostrich or even alligator. If your looking to for multi color or a design, he does that too.

Call me fan I guess but I love to see someone take pride in what they work and take the time to make the outcome look perfect. His user name on YouTube is CECHAFLO by the way

The other video that caught my eye was on restitching a leather steering wheel. He does this with a small piece of leather and wraps a small pole so you can really see what how do this process from start to finish, just in a smaller scale… great stuff! Every once in a while as an upholstery repair professional I have come across a few leather steering wheels that I’ve had to restitch due to some accidental cutting of the tread that holds the leather around the wheel. It was nice to see I had had at least done it right.

Well anyways here’s one of Cesar Chavez’s videos on how to do a basic cross-stitch on  a leather steering wheel. Enjoy guys and let me know what you think. And to those of you with a need for a steering wheel to be redone don’t hesitate to get a hold of Cesar, he really does do amazing work.

UPDATE:

looks like Cesar has taken the video I was going to show you on cross – stitching a leather steering wheel down for now. He contacted me yesterday through an email and said he was working on a complete series of videos for sale soon that will give you a better look at how to do these great techniques. When that happens you will be able to get those great videos right here! So until then here’s another great video he made on Leather Recovering. Enjoy

Talk to ya soon,

Mike – The Interior Guy
Automotive Interior Professional

All the leather in today’s vehicles are being dyed with a water based dye. It’s not only safer for the environment, which we all know is really big right now, but it’s also more flexible and better for the leather itself.

My last post I wrote I gave you a quick fix using a solvent based dye. Now I’m not syaing that if you were in a pinch that using a solvent based would be a bad thing, but like I said it’s a quick fix, nothing you would really want to do for a customer that’s expecting a long lasting repair.

The basic’s are the same as far as the use of a drop cloth to avoid over spray getting on the instrument panel, and the prepping is kinda the same too. But what I’m here to do is to show the right way to do this.

So with that said here we go.

After you’ve put your drop cloth behind the steering wheel, wrapping it around so that no over spray will get where you don’t want it to, take a scotch brite pad and my prepping solution and clean the leather steering wheel really good making sure you get the back of the steering wheel too. Nothing bugs me more the to see a steering wheel that has been repaired and all they have done is repaired the front. When you look through the windshield from the outside what do you see, umm the back of the steering wheel, so clean all the way around.

Once you have it clean, it’s time to address the wear that has been done to the leather.

If the leather has frayed then that frayness (not sure if that’s a word but it fits) needs to be sanded down smooth. You do this with a combination of the use of different grits of sandpaper, dry and wet sanding, and the use of leather filling compounds.

What I will do is start with a heavier grit, 240 usually but sometimes even a 120 to get there a little quicker. Wet the paper with my prepping solution and start sanding. The prepping solution will break through the dye that is already there and actually smear around bit, use this to your advantage, it kinda works as a filler and helps to smooth things out quicker. Sand until it becomes dry. Then move up to a finer grit like 400, and do the same. If it’s not as smooth as you want then move up to an even finer grit sandpaper like a 600. At this time you can still use the wet sanding technique or you can dry sand it, this will depend on the amount of damage your dealing with.

Once you have the area fairly smooth, you need to seal the leather with your water based grip base, this will not only help your compounds to stick better but make your repair easier to work with and last a lot longer in the end. I do this by taking my grip base in a small squirt bottle and put a small amount onto a folded wet paper towel then wiping it over the leather steering wheel.

After you have sealed the leather it’s time to break out your leather repair compounds. Now I have found that applying it with your finger is the easiest then trying to use a pallet knife, kinda hard to curve your pallet knife around such a tight curve. Compounds that I use the most on leather steering wheels is the old Leather Crack Filler or I’ll use Viper Products Leather Extreme Fill. Both work really well with applying it with your finger and both stay put really well too. I mostly use the Leather Crack Filler first then if I need to fill smaller imperfections then I’ll use the Leather Extreme Fill. I’ve found that the Leather Crack fill just works the best, it sands out nicely as well as stays put when sanding too.

The biggest thing to remember in repairing a worn leather steering wheel is to get it as smooth as possible, the less amount of leather repair compounds you use the better. It’s just less to go wrong later and you have a better chance of the dyes sticking in the end.

One other tip I can give you is on the Chrysler leather steering wheels and it’s on these only I have found this. Not really sure why they do this but they do. The dye actually balls up and makes the steering wheel look really rough. You can sand this if you want but I have found a better way of dealing with this without wearing your arm out trying to sand the dye down smooth. Take a terry cloth towel and some lacquer thinner and rub the dye off with the lacquer thinner soaked towel. This will take it right down to the leather and make it nice and smooth. Sometimes you will have to sand a bit after wards to get the raw leather smooth but you will surprised at the time and energy this will save you. Once your done you can fill and seal the raw leather then dye to match.

After all the imperfections are sanded, filled and smooth, you will need to prep the leather for dye. I will wipe the leather steering wheel down with my prepping solution careful not to rub the filler out then apply another coat of grip base. This ensures the dye will stick and not come off later down the road.

Now it’s time to apply your water based dye to match.

You can do this a couple of ways, either wipe it on or spray it on with either a paint gun or a preval. I almost always spray my dyes, it just seems to look better in the end and less dye is wasted, but that is totally up to you. I have found it’s easier to also run the vehicle while your dying the leather steering wheel because you can position the wheel where you need it and your not trying to dye with your gun upside down. Remember the back of the leather steering wheel too

Some people after dying will stop and call it good, which is ok because the dyes I use are ready to spray and really don’t need anything else. But I like to topcoat all my dyes with a clear water based topcoat, to me it just gives more of a barrier to wear and makes the repair last longer. I  use a low gloss topcoat applied with a spray gun just like the dye.

Now I still don’t stop there either…This is a little trick I came up with kinda on my own. I found that some of the leather steering wheels after being repaired and dyed just felt dry and didn’t look natural. What I do is apply a water based leather conditioner and then I apply a leather wax or chap wax. What this does is not only restore the oils lost in the repair process but make the leather steering wheel look and feel factory. The wax also protects the leather from water and lotions that may get on there later. It just makes the leather look and feel new again!

Products that I use in all my repairs are from one of I think is the best on the market, Viper Products. I have used a lot of different products in the past and have found Viper has a higher performance dye and compounds then any other I’ve used before. So go check them out, I really think you will be impressed!

Well I hope this helps more then my last post on how to repair a leather steering wheel. Just remember to take your time when doing any repair and use a water based dye on the leather, not only is it safer for you and everybody else but I promise you it will look better in the end and last a lot longer which is what you wanted in the first place.

Most of the colors are close to the original colors of the interiors of most of the vehicles on the market but always test an area first before you start any project to insure color match.

I will say this on Black, mostly the Landau Black will be the choice for most of your repairs. It just matches better with sheen and all.

Red’s and Blue’s be prepared to use maybe twice as much dye in most projects due to the transparency of the dyes.

Always clean and prep prior to applying any Sem aerosol paints. Soap and warm water always works great! Scotch Brite pads are usually all that’s needed for scuffing the surface, any harsher and sanding marks could be left and will show through and leave you with undesireable results.

Apply a coat of adhesion promoter to the surface before you paint, this will also help to give you maximum adhesion and a lasting repair.

For all your Sem Aerosol colors check out TCP Global’s Auto Color Library. They have a great site for everything automotive whether it be the outside or the inside. Just scroll down on the left you’ll see Vinyl and Leather Paint under the heading Aerosol Paint Center. They will also mix custom colors for you!

Talk to ya soon,
Mike “TIG”

Leather repair compounds that I have found that really don’t work that well are the low heat compounds that look a lot like the vinyl repair compounds. I’ve yet to have one hold up, it just peels off. Not all low heat leather repair compounds are like this though, I use a couple of low heat compounds that hold very well. It just seems to only be the ones that are more like vinyl, they seem to well for seats but try to avoid the wheel with this stuff.

Water based leather repair compounds work well but it really depends what you use.  Some of the deep crack fillers are almost to thick to use and there are a few that just peel right off while sanding. The thinner the compound the better. I find by layering the thinner compounds just seem to get the job done better. I apply all my compounds  with my finger, a lot easier then using a palette knife and paper towels just seem to waist product. You can just smooth it better with your finger.  There a couple I use mostly and one is Leather Corrector from New Life and another is from Viper Products called Extreme Leather Fill, both are a light compounds and easily applied with your finger.

There is one old stand by that I use and always have success with and that’s the gray stuff, Leather Crack Filler. You can apply it with your finger, smooth it out, sand it and it just looks great. I use it a lot for larger damage. In fact I used it just today on a GMC Denali leather wheel and here’s one off a Dodge I did yesterday, this one turned out really nice considering the damage I had to work with.

Pictures not that great but you can see the damage along the top and lower left. This one was frayed all along the top. The best way to tackle this is by sanding the frayed leather then apply your filler. Start with a 240 grit then move to a 400 then 800. I usually will start out wet then go dry as the leather starts to smooth out. I’ll use my prepping solution to do the wet sanding, it seems to cut through the dye and smear it, actually filling too. You want it to be as smooth as you can get it before you apply your compounds. There’s even times you won’t even need a compound after sanding with the prepping solution, just depends on the amount of fraying going on.

After you get it smooth, apply your compound with your finger, dry, then sand with 800 grit, then prime and dye. Leather Crack Filler works with both solvent and water based dyes where as water based works only with water based, also be careful applying it over an already dyed area with water based, just use lighter coats, it will peel if you not careful, it is a solvent. I’ve also used Leather Crack Filler as a filler on other things too other then leather, kinda like a primer surfacer, works great.  Dash repairs and even vinyl repairs, I’ve used it on many applications, it’s just a good all around filler to keep on hand for us automotive interior professionals.

Glues on leather steering wheels, well it depends. I’ve tried water based glues to lay down the frayed leather but never really had any luck with it, it peels. Never fails I try it thinking maybe things will be different but when I apply a filler over the top, and then go to sand it and it peels every time. About the only glue I’ve found that works well on a leather steering wheel is super glue. The trick works great, but after a while it will spider crack so only use this for quick fixes or holes in the steering wheel. The best way to eliminate fraying is like I said, sanding it smooth. I have had luck with the water based for snags or small chunks where you still have the leather peice and all you need is to lay it back down with a little glue.

Well we all have our favorite leather repair compounds for each job and I’d love to hear which ones you use to get the job done. Steering wheel repair can be difficult because of the normal everyday abuse, but if done right, the right leather repair compounds are used and the right leather dye, one can make a steering look new and last for years to come.

Talk to ya soon,

Mike “TIG”

The biggest problem I have with the foam steering wheel is when the dye has worn off and the foam underneath is exposed, there are what I call small pits. Basically a bunch of little holes in the foam, that if not sealed will soak up your dye and show, which in turn gets you no where, it just looks like crap. So you have to seal up those little holes with something that is flexible and something that will stick to the foam. I’ve tried all kinds of methods, not sure if all of them worked out, as a lot of the vehicles I work on are shipped off pretty quick. But usually you can tell pretty quickly if somethings not going to work.

One method I’ve tried and really got no where with was vinyl repair compound, it just doesn’t stick. I’ve tried super glue, but when dry it seems to want to crack. But with small areas if you use the super glue that is flexible, some suppliers call it Flex Gel, works pretty good. Just use a small amount and spread it over the area then sand with a 240 grit and wa-la it’s smooth enough to dye. But for those larger areas it can really be a pain in the butt. Super glue just won’t work, so what do you do, well one thing I’ve found that worked really well was Sems Flexible Primer Surfacer and another is made by Urethane Supply Co, it’s also a primer surfacer. Another word that the guys I used to work with and this may be an actual product just not sure but was “Fill and Sand”. What this stuff does is fill in the small pits and imperfections so when sanded it leaves you with a smooth area to paint. The Sems is flexible enough I think to work pretty well. I’ve also been known to use a little leather compounds too. The Leather Crack Fill (the gray stuff) does pretty much the same thing as the others, it’s a solvent based filler and is flexible enough for the foam steering wheel. I use it for smaller areas and even with some vinyl repairs, it seems to help your repairs blend better.

This is one foam steering wheel I wanted to show you that a customer and I kinda fixed together. The foam steering wheel had a chunk missing all the way around it where a steering wheel roller handle was attached (not really sure if that is what you call it), one of those things that you use to assist you in turning the steering wheel, you see them on farm tractors mostly. Anyways this thing pulled a chunk out of the wheel all the way around, kind like a ring.

The customer called me and wondered if there was anything that I could do, and really at first I said nothing, because I really didn’t know of anything that would adhere to the foam for one and wouldn’t feel like a rock when cured out. After a couple of phone calls later he informed me that he used a spray foam and it stuck and is holding up. Of course, FOAM, Duh…I felt weird having a customer tell me how to fix something, but when I got over there I was amazed at what it looked like and felt like, it was just a little squishier then the other foam but it stuck and looked like it might work.

He said all he did was spray the foam all around the steering wheel and let it set overnight. He then trimmed off the excess with a knife and that was as far as he got. He said he thought I could paint it or something to make it look better, but hey I’m not here to make things better, I like things to look great.

So I went to work to see if I could finish it off and make it look like a real foam steering wheel and not a botched up mess.

I first sanded the foam, so to get it level with the rest of the steering wheel. This is when I realized there was going to be a little more work then just filling in a few small pits, there were some larger then usual pits that needed something a little more filling then just “fill n sand”. I thought to myself for a minute to see if I had something in my arsenal that would do the trick, I came up with the only thing I could think of that I had at the time and that was flexible enough to work. I used Padded Dash Filler, it’s flexible and sticks to stuff like this, so I mixed up a small batch and put thin coats all the way around the area until it was level. Now working with this stuff is pretty cool, as it’s setting up you can start sanding it with a 180 grit to knock off the big stuff, just don’t get too aggressive at first. Then switch to a 240 grit to level and smooth it out as it’s curing. I use the blue activator, which cures it a little quicker then the red stuff.

I then used my “fill n sand” to fill in the not so perfect areas. Let cure a little bit then sanded it smooth with a 240 grit and then a 400 grit.

Once level and smooth I textured the steering wheel with a little Sems Textured Coat, first applying Bulldog Adhesion Promoter, so to make sure it would stay put.

Lightly sanded it with 400 grit to get off the fuzzy’s left behind from the texture spray, cleaned and prepped it really good, then applied my grip base and water based urethane dye.

I was happy…. what do you think? Turned out really good, the customer was really happy too. I think it will hold up and last a long time.

One thing I could have used also to fill in the spray foam area is a flexible bumper epoxy. I’ve used it before for smaller areas on foam steering wheels, and on split armrests. Seems to work really well, but I’m out right now and need to get to the supply shop and get more.

Foam steering wheel repair can be troublesome at times but using the right stuff will get the job done. If you all have any suggestions on products to use that have worked for you in the past on a foam steering wheel, please throw me a comment, I’m always looking for something bigger and better to bring my customers.

Talk to ya Soon – Mike “TIG”